Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I was not expecting to get in - it was well worth my while coming in early. What are the Minister's plans under the Common Agricultural Policy reform proposals to assist young farmers who have been farming for more than five years to build a viable farming enterprise? As the Minister is aware, the agreement on which he signed off in Brussels confined a definition of "young farmers" to those who have started farming now or any time within the past five years. That is my understanding of it. There is a significant category of farmers who are under the age of 30 or in their early thirties who have been farming for more than five years, many of whom are in receipt of very low single farm payments. If we are serious about trying to keep young farmers in farming - it is not only about attracting in new farmers which we must do - we have to provide a viable future for those who are already in the industry. I do not see how the Minister's proposals are doing that. What are his plans in this respect?

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